Hi, I'm trying to figure out whether some unusual symptoms I've experienced recently have anything to do with herpes.
I posted this question about a year and a half ago in the dermatology expert forum:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Dermatology/Herpes-Outbreak-or-Fungal-Infection/show/1595847#post_7250562
Based on the advice I received, I stopped worrying about Herpes and went to the dermatologist a few months later for treatment of the persistent fungal infection. They agreed it was a fungal infection, (or at least that it probably was) and advised that I use a milder soap and put an anti-fungal powder in the area daily. I also received oral antifungals and antifungal cream. I used the medicine as indicated (occasionally forgetting to put on the cream but generally pretty good about it). The skin in the perineum never quite seemed to get much better though, it continued to look the same and continued to itch and burn mildly on an almost daily basis as it did before. I returned to the dermatologist to complain, and they simply said that this was normal for me and that there was no chance the fungal infection survived. I accepted the news and continued using my mild soap and applying my powder. The only thing that seemed to stop was the sores because I had stopped using the fungi-cure that had apparently caused the nasty skin reaction in the first place.
Just about a 10 days ago, however, I noticed a sore or two in the perineum, in an area impossible to see without a mirror, and got a bit worried. The sore was flat and didn't seem to actively weep liquid or ooze pus. The sore(s) didn't hurt, except when the area was touched directly, though it did feel like there was a hair constantly being pulled in the area. I'm not sure whether there were any other noteworthy symptoms other than pain in my legs, but since I do a lot of crossfit, it's hard to say much except my legs seemed even more tender and sore than usual. The sores completely disappeared after 2 or 3 days from when I discovered them (though it's hard to say exactly how long they might have been there before I found them, or whether they began as red bumps or anything like that). The sores then left behind hard-ish white areas that may have had the distinctive herpes crater for a day or so (I can only get to use the mirror to check them once or twice a day, once when I looked at them, they sort of looked like the crater). Now they are almost completely gone except for a very subtle scar and there are hair follicles growing out of the areas where the sores were.
Bottom line, I'm not sure what to think. The sores are hard to explain as the result of friction or a skin reaction (though not impossible, I suppose) but if the fungal infection can cause them and it has, contrary to my doctor's claims, persisted or reappeared, then I suppose they are possibly the result of the fungal infection. Also, the co-occurrence with the hair follicles makes me wonder if this wasn't some variation on folliculitis or a pimple, though I don't know if any pimple has ever resulted in a sore like then one I saw.
I have an appointment to the dermatologist again, and will discuss it with them and probably request a good herpes blood test. Since I'm going to have to wait almost a month to be seen, however, I thought I would solicit some sage counsel about what might turn out to be going on here. I've mentally prepared myself for the possibility that it's herpes, but I also know I'm prone to be a bit of a hypochondriac. Still, a sore in an area where a fungal infection should be gone isn't exactly normal, is it?